Researchers
Martin Mills
“Bullying has to be seen as not some sort of aberrant individual pathology but as part of a social mechanism...”
Background Information
Martin Mills is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at The University of Queensland. His fields of interest include School restructuring, Schools and violence, Education and social justice, Pre-service teacher education, and Gender and education. His work has been published in a number of books and international journals. He has also spoken on these topics at international conferences in the United States, Iceland and England, as well as Australia. Martin has conducted numerous in-service programs with teachers on issues related to boys, as well as working on gender and violence programs with boys in schools.
Martin, can you tell us a little about your work in the area of challenging violence in schools?
Since going into the university sector from teaching in schools, my focus has been in the area of school reform and in particular, productive pedagogies . In relation to issues with boys, I have worked with schools to try to create structures and programs that problematise the links between violence and certain representations of masculinity.
How did you come to focus on this area of school improvement/education/research?
The work originated from when I was working as a year 9 coordinator and it struck me, quite forcefully, that whenever I was dealing with violence issues in the school it was always boys that I was having to work with. I’d also, in the ‘70s and ’80s, been exposed to feminist women who were working in domestic violence centres and women’s refuges. So the connection between violence and masculinity was quite evident to me and I realised that if we did want to challenge violence in schools and in society there were issues of masculinity that had to be addressed.
What issues do you think are underlying causes for bullying, harassment and violent behaviour?
One of the greatest problems, I think, in schools in relation to violence and preventing bullies from changing their behaviour is homophobia . It’s quite difficult sometimes for some boys to actually say, for instance, that they’re opposed to sexual harassment of girls, or that boys can behave in ways other than the traditional forms of masculinity. We can be asking some boys to do too much without a structural change and a discourse within the school that helps to support those boys who challenge traditional forms of masculinity.
If a school wanted to really address bullying and harassment, where would they start and what would be some of the essential steps?
Firstly, there has to be a culture in the school that says: “This is not on. We do not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia…any form of discrimination, and that violence is not a way that we address issues.” The issues also need to be addressed through the curriculum in various ways - for example, challenging particular structures of gender. Issues of pedagogy are also important - how we teach about these issues is absolutely critical. Challenging violence in schools has to be a whole school, and indeed, a whole system approach - in the classroom, in the culture of the school, in the playground, in the discipline structures and so on.
What fascinates you now? What do you think are the next research/challenges to work on?
I’m currently working on a book with a colleague on boys and pedagogy. It’s still focussing on issues of masculinity but trying to get more focussed on the pedagogical approach across the curriculum. Kids don’t want to be lectured to about the right or wrong ways of living. They need to identify the issues themselves through research. So I would want to provide them with activities that challenge them to think, that they’re thinking about real world issues, and that force them to think about things in different ways - and in a classroom environment that’s really supportive.
What would you recommend for further reading?
Mills, M. (2001) Challenging Violence in Schools: An issue of masculinities. Buckingham: Open
University Press.
Mills, M. (2003) Shaping the boys’ agenda: The backlash blockbusters, International Journal of Inclusive
Education, 7 (1), 57-73.
Martino, W., Lingard, B. & Mills, M. (2004) Addressing the educational needs of boys: a question of
teacher threshold knowledges? Gender and Education, 16(4)
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